Big 12 football: Bob Stoops talks Turner Gill

When Oklahoma hired Bob Stoops 12 years ago, Stoops tried to hire Turner Gill as his offensive coordinator.

Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops talks with reporters at Big 12 media day in Irving, Texas, on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes) ORG XMIT: TXMF106

Gill, then a Nebraska assistant coach, turned down the Sooners. “He was confident in what he was doing,” Stoops said.

So Stoops turned to Mike Leach. Leach, Gill. Gill, Leach. Not exactly switched-at-birth twins. Gill was option-oriented, Leach is, well, you know. Gill is polished and traditional. Leach is, well, you know. Gill was from a blueblood school. Leach was from Iowa Wesleyan and Valdosta State and Pepperdine Law School.

But the switch from Gill to Leach shows that there’s more than one way to win football games and shows that Stoops had a flexible attitude about how to win. Still does. “Definitely,” Stoops said.

Stoops took a playful jab at me. “I was listening to you at the time, that we had to run the ball, run option,” Stoops said. Guilty as charged. Twelve years ago, I was writing that you couldn’t win big without a strong running game, an assertation that has been mostly debunked.